Use of Contraceptive Methods in Couple’s with Unplanned Pregnancies: A Population-Based Study among Iranian Population

Abstract

According to common complications of unplanned pregnancies and the necessity of the attention to different factors leading to these types of pregnancies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the use of contraceptive methods in couple's with unplanned pregnancies referred to health centers in Hamadan city, Iran. In a cross-sectional study conducted on pregnant women who referred to health centers in Hamadan city for using prenatal caring from March 2006 to March 2007.Nine hundred women with unintended pregnancy were randomly selected for this study. The study data were collected by a validated questionnaire including questions about demographic characteristics, pregnancy and also family planning methods used before pregnancy. Data Processing and statistical analysis were performed using SPSS /16.0. Among 900 women with unplanned pregnancy, 92.2% experienced unplanned pregnancy for the first time and once and twice a history of unintended pregnancy was observed in 7.2% and 0.6% of cases, respectively. Among those, 93.9% used contraceptive methods. Hormonal methods were main used methods for contraception in 38.1%, natural method was observed in 31.9% and periodic abstinence was the least used method (0.4%). The main reasons for using irregular methods included inadequate information, lack of motivation and fear of side effects. Meaningful associations were found between the variables of age, age of spouse, educational level, number of parity, and history of abortion and the use of contraceptive methods. Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that maternal age, educational level of woman and her spouse, and also number of parity were main indicators of the use of contraception. According to high rate of unplanned pregnancy in our population, planning more training and consulting sessions for improving couple's awareness about selection of the most appropriate family planning methods should be considered to reduce unintended pregnancy in our population.